


Golden Waste

by GanglyLimbs



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Immortal Fake AH Crew, Midas Gavin, Mythological AU, Various Demi-gods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 19:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14244174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GanglyLimbs/pseuds/GanglyLimbs
Summary: Gavin has been trying to right a wrong for centuries now. He's been alone for that long. But one invitation to a mix match crew may change the view he has of the world.





	Golden Waste

**Author's Note:**

> The ever popular Midas! Gavin with various demi-god crew members. There's no pairing per say but I did write it with the mindset of pre-freewood, so take that what you will.
> 
> Come talk to me at my tumblr-Ganglylimbs

When you kill your daughter, the first thing you do is change your name. Then you get on a boat and leave. You never look back. With your greed, you’ve taken the fall, the drop, and all you can do is hope. Hope that the ground is soft when you reach it.

~

Gavin steps into the vault. It is big and cold and dusty. A hole has been blown in one of the sides. He takes his time, searching for safety deposit box 21AA. He hums as he walks. If he felt like it, he would have sung loud and clear, let his voice bounce around the vault and out the hallway. There was no one there, after all, but him. Instead, he listened to the sound of his footsteps clicking against the concrete floors.

21AA looks like the rest of the safety deposit boxes, the only difference being that while the rest have been thrown open, this one is still tightly closed. Gavin stares at it for a long moment. He hates having to do these kinds of things. Hates moving. But it is time.

Los Santos is big, a place where Gavin had felt, once upon a time, that he could get lost in. Thousands of people crammed into one area, a grimy city succumbing to the high crime rates. There isn’t a day that went by that sirens didn’t constantly wail, a police force spread thin as they zip up and down the roads. The buildings are tall and imposing, gray as the sky on most days, the people are suspicious of every little move from fellow citizens. Almost everyone deals in blood of some sort and the whole city is held together by the rich and powerful crime lords that ran everything in the shadows.

Unfortunately for Gavin, it is more profitable for children to learn their lessons on the streets, which makes for poor school attendance. The Los Santos school district can’t afford to keep him working. No one wants to learn from history anymore. But Gavin figures that this is a sign. He’s lived here too long (a hundred years now, far longer than he had dared anywhere else).

This bank had been leveled the other day, a bank robbery gone right, taken down in a blast of explosion. The lobby is destroyed, and everything inside is taken. But 21AA has been left closed. It is mostly undamaged, except for scratches along the lock, where someone had tried to pry it open. At least he knows that his security measure still works. No one but him can get this door open.  

Gavin takes off one of his gloves, letting the golden thing fall to the floor. With only the slightest hesitance, Gavin places his hand on the lock. At his touch, the lock begins to turn gold. It is slow going, smooth lines of gold creeping their way across the steel surface. Gavin steps back and watches. The gold spreads like flowing water, uncontainable as it engulfs the safety deposit box, and then keeps going. From experience, Gavin knows it won’t stop till the vault is covered. If he really wills it, it can spread to the entire building.

But Gavin isn’t here for that. He opens the box. Inside are papers, golden too though they had been gold long before this. Papers Gavin had gathered throughout his lifetime. Passports and identities, a few coins. Some photographs. A map and a letter. Everything that reminds Gavin about the hell he continues to live.

“Man, you’re a sad looking guy.”

Gavin whips around. In the doorway of the vault stands a man done up in a suit. He has shaggy black hair and sleepy brown eyes stare back at him. He is leaning against the vault, relaxed. Behind him stands another man, this one much taller and broader than the first. This one is dressed in leather, his muscular arms are crossed in front of his chest, his blond hair is pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes are two different colors. One green. One blue. While the man in the suit is smiling, the muscular man is scowling, lips pull back to show off his teeth.

Gavin takes a step back, eyes glancing to the side where the gold is still creeping across. Memories play in his head. People screaming, beatings, burning at the stake. No one reacts well when they realize what he can do.

The suited man chuckles. “Relax. I already know.” He tilts his head. “We’ve been watching you.”

Gavin finds his voice. “Well. That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” 

That gets him another chuckle. The man pushes off the wall, strolling towards Gavin, hands in his pocket. “My name is Geoff. Geoff Ramsey.”

Gavin freezes. Ramsey. Fuck. No meeting with Ramsey ends well for anyone. He swallows.  “Gavin Free.”

Geoff nods. “See. We can be civil.” Gavin isn’t so sure that the gang leader has a civil bone in his body, but he isn’t about to say that. “So. Gavin.” His name is said mockingly. “I have a proposition for you.”

Gavin has a pretty good idea where this is going. “I’ll turn whatever you want to gold, enough to tide you over, but I have a plane to catch tomorrow. And I would really like to be on it.” He pauses for a moment. “Please?” Never hurts to use manners.

Geoff throws his head back, his howling laughter echoing around them. Gavin can hear the soft huffing laugh of the other man too. Gavin shivers at the sound. When Geoff looks at him again, his eyes are green, shinny in the dimming light. “I don’t want your  _ gold _ . I’m offering you a job, Free.” He smiles wide, sharp teeth bared. “Or should I call you Midas?”

~

No one ever thinks about the fall when they wish to fly. You suppose there might be some freedom to it, but all you are aware of is the fear curling in your gut as the wind goes flying past. You can’t stop. Your arms are flailing, your legs are kicking. But there are is no stopping. Not till you go splat.

~

Gavin slinks through the penthouse he had been dragged too. A few weeks here and he still doesn’t feel that comfortable. The rest of the gang is nice, he supposes. You know, for a criminal syndicate that thrives on violence and chaos. Jack, the second in command, is friendly. Michael isn’t but is polite enough for a guy that likes to blow up stuff. Jeremy is curious, and Ray stays out of his way. Ryan, the muscular man that held guard at the bank with Geoff, is as silent as ever. It’s Geoff who pushes the interactions. 

He doesn’t’ seem to get that a closed door means do not enter. He probably doesn’t as locks don’t seem to deter him. He just pops into Gavin’s room and starts talking.

“Hey, which do you do like more; chocolate or vanilla?”

“I hate both. Get out.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Gold. Obviously.”

“There’s no need to be sarcastic.” Geoff pouts at him. “Come on. You’ve been moping around long enough. Get a little lively here.”

Gavin brushes him off and goes to get something to drink. Geoff follows.

“You know, you haven’t taken your gloves off the entire time. Afraid of something?”

“Unless you want your whole place to turn gold, they stay on.”

“That would be pretty cool.”

Gavin doesn’t have an answer for that.

The rest of the gang is in the living room. Their chatter stops when Gavin appears. Gavin stands straight, sets his shoulders back and keeps his chin up. He can feel their eyes on him but does not turn. Geoff is close on his heels.

“How about dinner? I haven’t seen you eat anything since you got here.”

“I don’t eat.” It’s been a long time since he last had a meal-he thinks of the rations he snuck, deep in the trenches as the war went on around him. There’s nothing to food anymore that appeals to him. It is all very hollow.

“You’re kidding.” Geoff frowns at him. “Well, no wonder you’re such a grouch.” He bypasses Gavin, going deeper into the kitchen. Gavin watches, sipping on his cup of water, as Geoff starts to bring out pans. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ryan get up and leave. The others are still staring at him.

“What are you doing?” Gavin asks the room.

“I’m going to cook you a feast”

“Why?” Didn’t Gavin just tell him that he didn’t eat?

“I wouldn’t turn down Geoff’s cooking,” Jeremy advises from the couch. “It’s legendary.”

Gavin frowns at him before turning around. He starts to leave. “It’d be a waste of effort. I’m not eating it.”

Geoff snaps his fingers and Gavin falls to the floor. His legs feel weak, like newborn deer, and Gavin struggles to pick himself up. Geoff passes him, running his hand through Gavin’s hair. “See? You need to eat. Rebuild your strength.” Gavin can hear the smirk in Geoff’s voice.

Gavin scowls after him and refuses the help the others try to give him. He forgets, sometimes that no one in the room is exactly human. He crawls his way to the couch, at the farthest point from the others, in time for Ryan to arrive back with a large piece of meat. He sets it on the counter. Geoff and he set to work on it.

Gavin takes the time to observe the others. Jack has taken the form of a woman today, though they kept the beard of the man they were yesterday. They talk to Ray, who stays slouched and unblinking the entire time. Next to them, Michael and Jeremy talk, their language unknown. It’s deep and forbidding, like thunder made into words. Their voices hold a melody to them though that Gavin finds soothing.

When dinner is ready, and the table set, Gavin finds he can walk again. He does not embarrass himself by trying to run away. Instead, he takes a seat, back straight and chin high. The others are talking, about their day, about the news and Gavin reminds himself that this is the most feared gang in the city, pretending to be domestic. For the most part, he pushes his food around the plate.

It’s pork, cooked so tender, and potatoes. Gavin thinks again of his last meal-the rations, the trenches, how his toes had started to turn black, and the next second when a bomb goes off and for one blissful second he hadn’t existed anymore. He stares at the plate. His mouth remembers the taste of mud and death and blood and the dry hard rations. Hesitating for only a second longer, he takes a bite.

It’s overwhelming at first. His taste buds are screaming and his stomach cramps. But he forces it down and looks up. Meets Geoff’s eye.

Neither of them mentions that by the end, Gavin’s plate is completely clean.

~

“Get your coat. You are coming with us.”

Gavin knows an order when he hears one. He doesn’t disobey because he’s pretty sure Michael can break him in half.

They drive to meet Ray and Jeremy, miles outside the city, in an empty field. There are logs piled up, the two dowsing them in gasoline. At Gavin’s questioning look, Michael tells him “We’re going to have a bonfire. Maybe tell ghost stories.”

The fire burns brightly into the night. Michael and Jeremy do most of the talking. It’s clear to Gavin that Ray runs on his own time. Once, Michael had asked him a question and it took the other man five minutes to respond. Michael hadn’t seem put out by it.

Michael and Jeremy tell stories of a wild youth. Their voices take on a particular note, their eyes glaze over. They touch at old scars.

Gavin can’t help but tell a few of his own.

It’s Ray that asks. “I never see you use your gift.”

Gavin startles. Then he scowls. “That’s because it’s not a gift. Only a curse.”

Michael takes over questioning as Ray takes that in. He shrugs. “I guess it depends on how you look at it, yeah?”

Gavin turns his scowl towards him. “How can I look at it any other way?”

“You turn things to gold. What’s not to like about that?”

“I can no longer hold anything in my hand. Anything soft turns hard. Anything hot turns cold. I dare not hold another person. I’m forever stuck looking at  _ gold _ .” Gavin spits out that last part.

Michael and Jeremy look at each other. “And?” Jeremy asks.

“And what?”

“Well, what are you doing about it?”

Gavin blinks at them. “Doing about it?”

“Yeah. You hate it so much, right? What are doing to get rid of it?”

Gavin takes a moment to think about that. “The Gods placed this curse on me for my greed. If I can prove I have changed, then maybe they will take it away.”

“And how’s that been going for you?”

Gavin draws his knees up to his chest. “Obviously, I haven’t tried hard enough.”

“Or maybe you’re trying too hard.” Jeremy shrugs.

Gavin has no answer to that. He stares into the fire as the two go back to talking. He looks over at Ray, who is staring at him, eyes completely black.

“Is there a difference between a curse and a gift?” He asks.

Gavin turns away from him.

~

Jack is standing outside his door. They’re a young child and when Gavin looks closer, he can see wrinkles around their eyes and mouth. There are gray hairs mixed in with the black.

He likes Jack. They don’t push him and can tell when he’s had enough, helping him escape the others when he wants to be alone. They smile at Gavin and wave him out of his room. “The others are out at on deal. Ray went back to his realm to deal with some things. Want to play some games?” They tilt their childlike head and give Gavin a wide smile.

Gavin follows them.

There is a game console set up in the living room, a racing game on the screen. Set around them are chips and soda. “It’ll be like a party.” Jack claps their hands.

Jack absolutely kicks Gavin’s butt at the game. And in the next. And in the next. “Wow, you suck at this.” They comment, after winning once again.

Gavin sighs, placing his controller down. “Yeah. It’s been forever since I played…well any sort of game.”

“What have you been doing all this time?” Jack wonders.

“I haven’t really had time to do anything of that sort,” Gavin said.

“Why?”

“Well, the curse-“

“Has done what?” Jack breaks in. “It turns things you touch to gold. How does that affect your ability to have fun?”

Gavin opens his mouth. Then closes it. He looks down at the controller. “I’ve been busy.” He finally answers.

“Too busy to have fun? What a life that must be.” Jack replies. They sip at some soda, watching Gavin.

Gavin just stares back, hopelessly.

~

There are three Ryans that Gavin knows of. One has blue eyes. Blue-eyed Ryan likes to stick close to the crew, looming over them. Watching. When Gavin mentioned it once to Michael, Michael told him it was an old habit of Ryan’s.

“He likes to protect things.”

Green-eyed Ryan is chatty. He talks about computers and likes to drink Diet Coke. He stays a safe distance away from Gavin, talking to him over countertops or with furniture between them.

Red-eye Ryan scares him. He saw red-eye put a bullet between someone’s eyes and stick a knife at the base of someone else’s spine.

Gavin can’t help but watch Ryan switch between the three. Red turns to green then bleeds to blue before turning back to red. They all must get their opinion in.

Ryan also likes to sleep outside Gavin’s door. Gavin had assured him, after the first time, that Gavin wasn’t going anywhere. Ryan had just stared at him with blue eyes. Gavin brings it up with Geoff. Geoff just pats him on the shoulder and tells him that means Ryan likes him.

Ryan makes sure that Gavin continues to eat, shoving plates in his face and not leaving till he feels that Gavin had eaten enough. When he is green-eye Ryan, he will read out loud. His voice is smooth. The books he read are long, things Gavin had never read himself. There had never been enough time.

Gavin doesn’t usually go on heists or deals. It feels wrong. To be spending all this time trying to right a wrong and here he is, stepping in line with criminals. He refuses the gun they try to give the first few times. But after almost being shot, he takes it, promising himself he will never use it unless for self-defense.

But sometimes he does go and just watch them work. Jack is great at getting into places-of course they are, they can be everyone. Jeremy carries a club like it’s the only weapon he needs and really, when he swings and the force of it plows through concrete like butter, it probably is. Michael and Ryan are there, raining down bullets or standing menacingly in the back.

Geoff is the one orchestrating it all.

Once at a deal, when they had been negotiating with a wannabe drug dealer, trying to decide if he would be allowed to sell on their turf, Gavin noted the way that Michael and Ryan would look at Geoff before talking. Little side glances. Geoff had been in the back, lent against a wall, half covered in shadows. He would tilt his head from time to time, some secret code that meant something to the others. His eyes never left the increasingly agitated dealer. Gavin watched him watch the dealer, watched as Geoff pulled his gun before the dealer could reach for his and shot at the man’s hand. He watched the way Geoff just grinned and shrugged, leaving the dealer to Ryan and Michael to do with as they please. 

The third time Gavin goes with them to a heist, he stands in the corner and watches as everything goes wrong. The teller presses the button before they can stop her. They can’t get the money fast enough. Cops are busting down the door, civilians are running around, and they can’t get anyone under control.

He watches an officer gun down Jack. He moves forward, ungloves one of his hands and touches the officer’s shoulder. The man had had his back turned towards him, but he spins around upon Gavin’s touch. He brings his gun up and Gavin can see the fear in his eyes. But the gold works faster. It spreads from his shoulder and up his neck. The man screams, dropping his gun in favor of reaching up to scratch at his neck, fingernails scraping across the gold.

Gavin stumbles backward, watching with wide eyes as the gold overtakes the man. A young girl flashes across his vision, pleading for her father to make it stop. His hands are trembling heart pumping. His breath is coming in short.

_ “Father, father, stop!” _

But he can’t stop it. Never could. And it twists his stomach, sends tears to his eyes.

Everything has gone silent. Gavin isn’t sure what was going on with the others, if they have stopped shooting or if everything is still descending into chaos. He doesn’t really care. Just watches the man before him be forever froze in gold.

He reaches down to grab the gun attached to his hip. He makes sure it is loaded. Then he puts it against his head.

Strong arms wrap around him, pinning his arms against his side. He twists his head to look back and meets the red eyes of Ryan. Gavin makes sure to keep his hands as far away from the other man as he can. 

“Well, would you look at that.”

Geoff appears before him, a forest green robe replacing the suit he had moments before. He walks up to the now completely golden officer, lightly rubbing his fingers against the man’s shoulder.

Gavin swallows and looks around. Jeremy is beating his club against a figure that probably once was a human. It looks like a fleshy mess, guts strewn around it. There is wind whipping around Michael. Lights are flashing, in storm clouds that surrounded him, mini lightning that strikes out and catches a piece of paper on fire. Another bolt strikes a hole through another officer. He falls to the floor as Michael laughs.

“It’s so pretty.” Gavin’s attention is drawn back to Geoff, who is now laid across the officer’s back. His smirk is wide. “Good job.”

Gavin’s cheeks are wet. “I-I didn’t mean to, I swear. They killed Jack and I reacted without thinking and-“

“And look what you did.” Geoff cuts in. He brushes his hand across the officer’s cheek. “Amazing work. And you were protecting the crew? You did well.”

“He’s dead.”

Geoff shrugs. “He would have died anyway. But you made him beautiful.”

Gavin stares at the officer. His face is frozen in golden horror, mouth opened for a scream that has been cut off. His hands are curled into claws, one wrapped around his throat. “I didn’t want to.”

“Didn’t you? Seemed you were moving with intent. And what does it matter? He killed Jack. Doesn’t he deserve this?”

“You protected the crew.” Ryan’s gruff voice spoke near his ear.

Geoff walks forward. With every step, his appearance changes. Long green robes, with yellow accents flow around him. They reach the floor. A helmet sits on top of his head, with long, curved horns sticking out of it. His eyes are pure green, glowing neon with power. He ruffles Gavin’s hair as he passes by. “You did well.”

Later, Jack reappears at the penthouse. Bloody but alive and the crew celebrates with cookies.

Gavin locks himself in his room.

~

You expect to hit the ground. You expect there to be a splat. You expect your brains to be all over the hillside, an explosion of body parts and blood.

You do not expect there to someone to help you slow down. For arms to wrap around you and hold you close and tell you everything will be fine.

With them, you’ll either survive. Build your life back up. Maybe one day, you won’t see your daughter’s face in your dreams, pleading for it to stop.

Or maybe you’ll still go splat. But at least this time, you have friends.

~

Gavin is in the process of turning a mug gold when Geoff appears again. Gavin startles, fumbling with the mug before it crashes against the ground. “Get out of my room.” Gavin snarls.

Geoff just smiles and sits on Gavin’s bed. “You called it your room.” He points out.

“So?” Gavin huffs.

“You’re really starting to fit in here,” Geoff says as he lays against the headboard.

Gavin considers him. Then he looks that golden pieces, scattered across the floor. “Do you usually do this? Force other immortals to join your gang?”

“Actually, Jack found me. As did Ray. I like to think they’re the ones to force me into this life.” Geoff tilts his head. “To be fair to them, I was causing mischief before. Now it’s more organized at least.”

Gavin laughs. “So you all, what? Followed each other around like lost puppies.”

“Hey, we’re very dangerous puppies.”.

They stay silent for a moment. Then Gavin asks. “Why are you here?”

“In this room? Because I wanted to let you know dinner is ready.”

“No. Why are you here, on Earth? Instead of your own realm?”

Geoff lets out a sigh. “I don’t think they’ll take me back if I begged them. Not that I would. But still. To them, I represent death and betrayal. Who would want that around?”

Gavin looks at Geoff. Sees a lot of things in those eyes that he’s sure are reflected in his own. Then he grabs a nearby pen, watching in silence as it turns to gold and hands it to Geoff. “Apparently you have a whole crew that wants you around.”

Geoff takes it. He spins it between his fingers. “Yeah, I guess I do. With maybe one more?”

Gavin smiles. “I can’t guarantee that. But I’ll stick around for a while.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Criticisms Welcomed.


End file.
